Delays approving local incentives endanger planned Texas project

Delays Approving Incentives Endanger New Austin Facility: Plans to build a new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) facility in Austin, Texas, have hit a snag, according to the AustinAmerican-Statesman. The project was to receive between $35 million and $36 million in state and local incentives, but Travis County has not yet signed off on its portion of the incentives, and may ask for new conditions for the deal. A local official with Austin’s Chamber of Commerce told the AustinAmerican-Statesman that the delays had frustrated Apple and that plans to build the new facility were “in peril.”

Apple Sales Soar in China: Apple products are wildly popular among Chinese consumers and the company will see its sales growth in China almost double in 2012, according to Economic Times. However, Apple faces a number of hurdles if it wants to grab an even greater share of the Chinese market, including settling its iPad trademark dispute with Shenzhen Proview, adapting its iPhone to support China Mobile‘s (NYSE:CHL) unique network technology, and introducing new products to attract consumers, the Economic Times said. Apple products sell well in major Chinese cities, where an emerging middle class is snapping up premium products — however, they still struggle in smaller cities, where their price is prohibitive compared to phones using Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android OS.

Mac App Store Crosses 10,000 Apps: After launching last year, the Mac App Store now offers more than 10,000 apps, according to Apple Insider. The benchmark was achieved last week, as noted by a French website that tracks App Store content. Apple has been moving away from traditional optical disk-based sales of major software titles, including iWork, Aperture and OS X 10.7 Lion, in favor of an app-only delivery model.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.